During an interview with the New Statesman in 2020, Keir Starmer was asked whether he was still a “red-green”, as during his formative years. “Yeah!” he eagerly replied.
Starmer’s environmentalism is often underplayed in accounts of his political outlook. But it isn’t hard to find clues. He became a vegetarian 30 years ago, because “eating meat wasn’t right for the body and the planet”. His most renowned legal case – McLibel – saw him represent two environmental activists sued by McDonalds. He also defended Greenpeace against Shell over plans to dump Brent Spar, a decommissioned oil rig, in the North Atlantic.
Another clue presented itself this week: Starmer was one of only two G7 leaders (the other being Italy’s Giorgia Meloni) to attend the COP Climate Conference in Azerbaijan. Some inside Labour didn’t want the Prime Minister to appear at all. Starmer, however, used his speech to announce a toughened climate target: reducing UK emissions by 81 per cent by 2035.
Labour’s green agenda is sometimes cast as an Ed Miliband side project. But that, Starmer allies say, underestimates his personal commitment. During his flight to Baku, the Prime Minister named economic growth and border security as his two political priorities when abroad (a mark of how Morgan McSweeney’s No 10 is drawing a clearer link between the foreign and the domestic).
Both, in different ways, depend on tackling climate change. A world ravaged by extreme weather, Miliband warned at last week’s cabinet meeting, could force more than 200 million people globally to migrate, shrink the global economy by 19 per cent and put an additional 600,000 people in the UK at risk of flooding.
Both Starmer and Miliband are also attracted to the economic opportunities presented by green industries (not least given the US’s potential retreat under Donald Trump). “There’s a global race on now to be the global leader on this,” Starmer told reporters this week. “I want us to be in the race and I want us to win the race.” Miliband has forged an alliance with “techno-optimists” – such as the group Britain Remade – who have hailed his backing for onshore wind farms and solar power.
The government’s recommitment to the green agenda is significant – some had predicted that it would be diluted in the aftermath of the Democrats’ defeat. That it hasn’t reflects politics as well as principle. Labour figures point to polling by More in Common showing that there is not a single constituency in Britain where concern about climate change falls below 50 per cent of the electorate. Rather than attracting voters, Rishi Sunak’s U-turns on net zero alienated Conservatives who had warmed to David Cameron.
But clear political limits remain. Starmer made clear this week that he has no interest in taxing meat and dairy products or discouraging flights – despite the Climate Change Committee warning that an “accelerated shift” away from these is required. Meeting net zero targets in the absence of such interventions is one of Labour’s defining challenges.
The other is ensuring that voters feel the benefits of green investment. Rather than an excess of intervention, Labour believes that the Democrats’ defeat reflects a lack of redistributive policies. Can the party deliver lower energy bills in time for the next election? That is uncertain but this week has confirmed that Starmer views Labour’s climate agenda as a strength, not a weakness.
This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; receive it every morning by subscribing on Substack here
[See also: The return of the Blairites]
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